Common Names

Sacred fir; oyamel, pinabete [Spanish].

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Pinus religiosa H.B.K.; Abies hirtella Lindl.; A. religiosa hirtella (H.B.K.) Carrière; A. religiosa var. glaucescens (Gord.) Carrière (Farjon 1990).

Rushforth (1989) has found a similar population on Nevada de Colima in western Jalisco. The newly described trees are related to A. religiosa, but he has described them as a new species, A. colimensis Rushforth. I do not know if this taxon has yet won wide acceptance.

Description

Range

Mexico: S Chihuahua, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, C Michoacán, Mé, S Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, W Tamaulipas, Veracruz; W Guatemala (Farjon 1990).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Dendrochronological usefulness is explored by Huante et al. (1991), who examine climate-tree growth relationships and develop a crossdated chronology.

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Stands of Abies religiosa provide winter habitat for the Monarch butterfly. These stands are being depleted by logging, threatening the continued survival of the butterfly.

Citations

Huante, P., E. Rincon, and T. W. Swetnam. 1991. Dendrochronology of Abies religiosa in Michoacan, Mexico. Tree-Ring Bulletin 51:15-28. Available online at www.treeringsociety.org/TRBTRR/TRBvol51_15-28.pdf (accessed 2006.06.05).

See Also

Liu 1971.